Oscar Night's Franco and Hathaway: "It Could Go in Any Direction"

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Even by Hollywood standards, there is no gig as high profile as hosting the Academy Awards. All eyes are on you, and the potential to crash and burn in front of your colleagues and potential employers hangs overhead like a Kong-sized chandelier.

PopcornBiz grabbed a couple moments with each of the hosts in recent days on the whirlwind awards season circuit, and neither was afraid to admit to some pre-ceremony nerves.

“I love that it's a whole world that I have never been involved with,” said Franco, “meaning that it's a lot of song-and-dance and kind of broad humor. It's the perfect place for it. It's like the perfect excuse for it. Normally, I don't think I can pull it off, but because of the context I think it somehow works. So it's great to be a part of that and Anne is great, a great energy.”

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Although the Oscars did feature a "double act" last year with Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, Franco and Hathaway represent the first time the hosts have been a man and a woman. And while Franco is new to the Oscars, Hathaway took part in the 2009 event - she was pulled onstage by host Hugh Jackman for an "impromptu" song.

At 28 and 32, respectively, Hathaway and Franco are also the youngest ever Oscar hosts.

Hathaway admits she’s feeling more than a little “neurotic and nervous” as the big ceremony approaches. “I don't know what to expect,” she told us. “So I'm just trying to keep a great sense of fun and openness about it, but it could go in any direction possible.”